Jason Schreurs

HQ: Victoria, BC, Canada

I’m actually a lot older than people think. I’m 38 and married with four kids. I've been reviewing music since 1990. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not some kid in a shitty band who’s jealous that other musicians have a record deal. Don’t play music at all. Could not actually care less about playing it.

But I’ve always been a music fan. And a critic. Started in Grade 4 when I first heard heavy metal. Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, you know… found a Metallica tape at a pawn shop in Grade 7 and thought, “This is crazy. This is noise!” I loved it. In grade 8, I discovered thrash. With Grade 10 came skate punk and hardcore; all of those thrasher skate rock comps. Classic! I went through my grunge phase in the ‘90s just like everyone else who was listening to underground music at the time. Then came pop-punk, emo and then a bunch of other genres with outdated names.

I realized about 10 years ago, after writing about countless bands, that every genre has its first tier bands, maybe 10 or 20 of them. Then it is the second tier of about 50-100. Then the lower tiers (i.e. – shit) at approximately infinity. When people ask me what kind of music I like, I tell them, “Good music.” Every genre has its good bands, its mediocre bands, and its horrible bands. I’m always amazed at how many bands fall into the latter two categories. Prove me wrong.